Artisan distillery OK’d near Geyserville

A Sonoma County zoning board gave final approval Thursday for a 10,300-square-foot craft distillery in Geyserville - the first spirits production facility located on agricultural land in the county, planning officials said.

Petaluma surgeon Michael Bozuk Jr. said he has long envisioned starting a family business producing artisan liquors - including brandy, fruit-based liqueurs, absinthe and gin.

“I’ve wanted to start a hand crafted, small-batch distillery for a long time,” Bozuk said. “My family has been distilling brandy for many generations, going back to Central Europe.”

Bozuk said his parents grew up in Slovakia making brandy. Now, he wants to carry that tradition to his own family.

First, Bozuk plans to erect a new building for the distillery on an existing 3.1-acre vineyard, displacing less than an acre of grapes.

He’s hired a master distiller to produce nearly 6,000 gallons of spirits a year, using ingredients mostly sourced from Sonoma County, including grape skins, apples and pears. He’ll also use grapes grown on site.

Bozuk said he hopes eventually to build his home on the property.

“I’m happy,” Bozuk said after the 5-0 vote from planning commissioners Thursday during a meeting of the Board of Zoning Adjustments. “This is a type of agriculture that is really not represented in Sonoma County.”

While there are other small-batch distilleries in the county, all are either joined to wineries or located in industrial areas.

“This is the first stand-alone distillery,” said Misti Harris, a planner with the county’s Permit and Resource Management Department.

Planning commissioners applauded the project.

“I like the idea of a new agricultural product that can use products that might not otherwise have a market,” said Commissioner Greg Carr, referring to Bozuk’s plan of purchasing grape skin and fruits that might otherwise be thrown away by supermarkets due to age.

The distillery sparked little opposition, though one person said he’s concerned about adding traffic to a rural county road.

Mick Unti, who is co-owner of Unti Vineyards in Healdsburg and who lives near the new distillery, said he’s worried about the amount of truck traffic carrying goods to and from the distillery, as well as the proximity of the distillery to the nearby Geyserville Elementary School.

He also questioned the estimated 60 vehicle trips a year cited in the project’s details.

“The amount of commercial vehicles on Woods Lane is frightening,” Unti said. “And 60 round trips a year sounds drastically underestimated.”

The zoning board added a new requirement for signage limiting commercial traffic on Woods Lane and Geyser Vista Lane near the distillery.

You can reach Staff Writer Angela Hart at 526-8503 or angela.hart@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter ?@ahartreports.